Third-gen iPad owners: does the fourth-gen iPad irk you?

How do Ars readers feel about a new iPad only seven months later?

Is your third-generation iPad, which you've owned for seven months or fewer (because that's how long it's been on the market), now "obsolete?" The answer, it turns out, is yes, thanks to Apple's spec bump on Tuesday, which brought about the fourth generation of the device. With a new A6X processor, expanded LTE capabilities, and a new Lightning connector, the fourth-gen iPad is in and the third-gen is unequivocally out. Even the iPad 2 is still for sale through Apple as a discounted model, but not the version of the iPad that was just introduced earlier this year.

Does it upset you? For some, the answer to that question is "yes." When we buy new things, we like to think we're getting some life out of owning the latest and greatest—especially if it's a $500+ device. For some, it's about bragging rights, but for others, it's purely based on principle. People who like to buy Apple devices tend to view it as a deal with the devil—you get to enjoy the newest iPad for a while and Apple gets a considerable chunk of your money. Devices should come out on a predictable schedule within a reasonable timeline so that we're always either owning the current thing, or planning for it on the calendar.

Or should they? There are plenty of customers who don't mind buying a device whose moment in the spotlight is short-lived. Those of us who purchased third-generation iPads did so (presumably) because we liked the specs at the time and felt like it would be a worthwhile purchase. Was it only worthwhile seven (or fewer) months ago but not today? If it continues to work well for your needs, then what's the fuss?

Sure, some users might have bought their third-gen iPads just the other day, so their frustration may be justified. (And many of those people are able to exchange their purchases for fourth-gen versions.) But for the average, everyday iPad user, it may be hard to articulate exactly why such a tight update schedule feels so aggravating.

Which is why we turn to you, Ars readers. Are you frustrated with Apple's decision to release an entirely new generation of iPads so soon after the last? Or do you take a more zen approach, seeing new iPad introductions as irrelevant to your past purchasing decisions that you're still perfectly happy with? And most importantly: why do you feel this way? Tell us in the comments how you view this latest update to the full-sized iPad line (iPad mini notwithstanding) and we'll round up the best reader comments in a follow-up post about how our community frames Apple's decision to upgrade the iPad now, instead of later.

340 Reader Comments

I see it as more of a nod to those who ponied up for the iPhone 5. The new connector can now be used across two devices, rather than just one.

I was never all that crazy about the 3rd gen, since it sounded like the specs exploded for the sake of maintaining the existing experience with a new display. I'll be interested to learn more about this one.

I've always disliked that Apple products disintegrate after new models are released. It seems like they should retain *some* value.

That's the problem -- that they do diminish in value and that Apple artificially devalued your product by releasing a half-upgrade 5 months early.

I consider the iPad 1 one a release, and the iPad 2 a point-upgrade, the 3 a release, and the "new" iPad another point upgrade. But to answer the question, no, I'm not upset, because I have what I wanted out of an iPad -- more memory & a retina display. The 3rd gen iPad is a fine device.

The first time I was irked when the first gen iPad was unsupported so quickly. Unsupported as in not able to handle even the next iOS version very well. I still use it for basic functionality, but one of the great benefits of owning an Apple product is OS updates and the product getting better and better. If I wanted a device as is, I'd have gotten a cheap Android. After my first gen iPad purchase, my rule of thumb is now never buy a first gen product.

The reason I'm irked this time is because I just bought my wife the 3rd gen a little over a month ago, 33 days to be exact. I bought it at full price, $499 for the base model. The resale value of a gently used iPad on eBay was around $400 yesterday. As soon as the new iPad was announced, Gazelle dropped their prices to $215 (which has since increased to $250, probably due to demand of used iPad 3's for cheap). I felt like the guy who bought gas for $4 a gallon yesterday, to find out gas prices dropped to $2 a gallon today. Apple has established a pattern with their iOS products (yes I know it's only been a few years, but people tend to find patterns regardless), where the new gen replaces the previous gen at the same price point, and the previous gen continues to be sold, but at a bumped down price point. Apple dropping the product entirely instead of bumping it down sends a message that this is more of a "fix" then a next gen product, that the A5X chip was just not up to snuff. Their lack of confidence in their seven month old product does not make me feel good regardless.

The thing with Apple, is that most of their devices follow a certain schedule of planned obsolescence. When I bought my ipod nano (nth gen), I knew, that like apple products before it, I would have maybe 2 years before I had to honestly decide to sell it or keep it for the remainder of it's life.

And it's always been this way with modern Apple products. You buy it new, expect it to be functional a couple years later, and then you can either sell it, or live with bare-bones functionality for the remainder of it's life.

Ask many people who bought an iPhone 3G and the stories are similar -- it barely chugs along into the year of iphone4 -- and even worse when iphone4S came along -- that's barely 2 generations (or years) of good solid use with the latest apps before things start heading downhill fast.

It still works as a phone, but the iPhone lifestyle fades.

Same with maps, 3d functionality, Siri, etc. Apple only truly extends their hardware for 2 years. Then it's time to upgrade.

All this leads to the iPads. Many people will be fine 2 generations from the time they bought an iPad -- except, the question is, what's a generation to Apple?

If they switch to a 6 month upgrade cycle, and don't really care about extending hardware past 2 generations, does that mean the iPad has a 1 year lifespan before the iPad lifestyle becomes a shadow of it's former glory?

And will developers, including Apple be able to support such a lifecycle?

I don't believe so. I believe that the new iPad is an answer to many Android tablets out there, a shot across Microsoft's bow (no way would Apple want to concede anything to a newcomer such as MS)..and refreshes the Apple want glands of the consumer for the coming holiday season.

I think it was market pressures that forced Apple's hand this time... I don't think they could support a 6 month product refresh -- or at least, nobody is keen on supporting a 6 month refresh in terms of apps and support.

Other than a slight speed boost, iPad3 owners (or the majority of them anyways) won't care. But if the cycle continues at such a high pace, sales of the latest and greatest from Apple will likely slow due to consumer and developer backlash.

For what Apple charges for their products, yeah I'd be miffed to see the value of my investment down like that in 7 months at best. However as someone being "forced" to buy an iPad this year (Cause the app I need is iOS only) I'm quite happy! Chances for an iPad5 within a year I'd figure are remote. This is probably the "milk it" iPad until the next architecture.

1. All iPads are now Lightning - new Lightning devices will come out faster because of that. This is great for the future.

2. I'm officially an old-fart now. I've made several conscious decisions to get last-gen hardware in the past few weeks - I got an iPhone 4s for my wife instead of getting a 5 for me, and handing her my 4s. I just ordered a ThinkPad X220 instead of an X230. The former is because of my investment in 30-pin docks (1 each for car @ $100 a pop, kitchen @ $30, and a slew of cheap cables). The latter because of a desktop dock & power supplies, now-cheap accessories.

Now, a YEAR for now, I'm getting all new stuff, of course. :-)

I replaced my iPad 2 solely for the iPad 3 display, CPU power is always nice, but the screen... THE SCREEN!

For what Apple charges for their products, yeah I'd be miffed to see the value of my investment down like that in 7 months at best. However as someone being "forced" to buy an iPad this year (Cause the app I need is iOS only) I'm quite happy! Chances for an iPad5 within a year I'd figure are remote. This is probably the "milk it" iPad until the next architecture.

I wouldn't be so sure - I think the iPad Mini & iPad 3 refresh are partly Apple responding to the increased pressure in the marketplace. It's either refresh or price-cut, and you KNOW Apple NEVER price-cuts.

I'm more irked that Ars published an article on such a worthless topic. Please stick to intellectually engaging topics and don't pander to tantrums thrown in response to a computer company selling a new computer.

I'm irked but not because there is anything wrong with my iPad 3 but because I just bought it in late August. If I had even an inkling that the iPad would be refreshed I would have waited the extra month and a half.

I think in most circumstances I would be frustrated. The problem with this one is the Lighting Connector released on iPhone 5. If you released an update for the new connector, than you would likely have to rearrange the inside and essentially upgrade it anyway, so might as well as do a full upgrade. The only other option would to keep the iPad 3 on sale until March with the 30-pin Connector, which would likely hurt sales for it with Lighting being the new standard. While there would be people who would purchase the iPad 3 anyway, it would leave then behind with the new accessories using Lighting. If they buy a new one every 1-2 years, it might not be as a big of a deal, but if you want to hold onto it for a while, 2-4 years, than the 30-pin is a problem versus using Lighting.

You know, when the third generation iPad came out, I told everyone I possibly could to hold out and wait for two reasons. The first and most important reason being to see what Apple's long term support strategy for the iPad was. The original iPad was two years old at that point and we needed to see what Apple would be doing as far as support goes. Especially when you consider the fact that these are pushed as PC replacements and cost more than PCs. They should have the same level of support a PC does, right? It should be good for that same four or so years a PC is good for, right? So I told people to wait and see what Apple's long term support strategy would be. Turns out Apple decided to stick to the pattern of putting profits above customer satisfaction and support, and dropped support for the iPad two years earlier than it should have.

I also told people to wait based on technical grounds. The iPad's resolution increased four fold while the GPU power only increased two fold. Basically, the GPU in the third generation iPad wouldn't be capable of producing the necessary fill rate to even match the iPad 2's performance. I was right and the third generation iPad performs worse than the iPad 2 when running the same games and applications at native resolution.

Now we have the fourth generation iPad after only a few months. This brings back the question of long term support. How long is Apple going to support the third generation iPad now that the company is acting as if that generation never existed? Will the same argument be presented that was unofficially presented with the original iPad? That "it hasn't been sold new in a year so theres no reason to support it"? People can't assume the third generation iPad will be supported long term just because millions of people bought it. Millions bought the original iPad as well and they all got left in the dark. Look at all of the people who bought plastic MacBooks as recently as a couple of years ago who got left in the dark with OS X updates even though their systems are technically capable of running the new OS, and will even be capable of running Windows 8.

People always say Android devices have a terrible track record for support. And they do. But the reality is that Apple does too. Aside from the iPhone, which we all know Apple makes an enormous profit off of, we're talking about a company that invented forced obsolescence. How many times have they cut Macs out of OS X upgrades for silly reasons? Even Macs costing thousands of dollars that are in every way capable of running new the new OS just as good as more recent hardware? Look at the original iPad. A device that would have cost as much as $900 after taxes and recycling fees barely a year before they killed support for it, while still selling it refurbished for hundreds of dollars after announcing that it would no longer be receiving OS updates! Even better, look at what happened with the iPhone 3G. Apple sold the iPhone 3G on contract up until the iPhone 4 was announced. People were buying that device on two year contracts until June 2010. In November 2010, Apple released the last software update for that device, so people were stuck without any support of any kind until just a few months ago. It will be interesting to see how Apple handles the iPhone 3GS. Will it see another two years of support even though people were able to buy it on contract until just a couple of months ago? Let's not forget the fact that Apple is a company that charges several hundred dollars, and up to two thousand dollars now, for desktop computers without optical drives.

In all, people should absolutely not be surprised at all that Apple is putting profiteering well ahead of their customers. This is what they have done all along.

People also need to stop saying certain things. Such as "theres very little difference between the third generation and the new one". The A6X is a big step up and can actually drive the "Retina Display" properly. It's actually a performance upgrade over the iPad 2 while the third generation was a performance downgrade.

Guessed what? You have your opinion and I have mine. You may believe in outsourcing products but I don't. So despite your little attempt at sarcasm, outsourcing does not fit MY definition of an American company and is not up for debate.

However your definition of an American company has no resemblance to reality, so expect to get smacked for it by people.

I don't feel like I'm getting smacked for it. Nobody really has a right to do so anyway. If it has any resemblance to reality or not is not an issue. If the truth be known, in the borders of this topic, my statement or the discussion of my statement has no relevance in any way. With that, there is no issue, and my opinion of outsourcing is firm no matter how abstract my definition of an American company is. These are my opinions and as such are of little importance.

I'm still using an iPad 1, am a little Irked that IOS 6 doesn't run on it, but it is still very usable. My wife has commandeered it and it's time to get a new iPad anyway.

iPad 3 owners should not be irked, there's still lots of life in your iPad. Enjoy it and only buy a newer one if it breaks, gets stolen, you have a hand-me-down chain, or you are rich enough to buy one at every release and not worry about the $$$.

Just remind yourself that Android users can potentially get irked every time new tablet gets announced/released.

Tablet crystal ball peek into the future: GooglerolaT&T, Microkia/T-Mobile, Netflix/Verizon, Amazon/Sprint, and Nintendo/Facebook/US Cellular will all have free tablets hoping to lure you into their $5/month unlimited surfing/streaming media (movies, music, games) services with 7G connectivity included. Apple/Disney will just become their own carrier.

Did the iPad 3 stop working the second Apple announced the updated iPad?Did they drop support for the iPad 3?The answer to these questions is no.The iPad 3 is still a-w-e-s-o-m-e and it will get new OS updates for the next 2-3 years.

No irritation at all, it's the price of progress in the tech world. Whatever is new today, it's replacement is already well under development. I get a kick out of those "outraged" and wanting Apple to replace their New iPad with the iPad 4 maxiPad. Perhaps Apple could replace my 2 1/2 year old MacBook Pro too?

Planned obsolescence is a policy of planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete, that is, unfashionable or no longer functional after a certain period of time.

Unless someone can point me to evidence that all Apple products have a kill switch set for a specific point in the future, can we please dial down the "OMG!! Planned obsolescence!!" hyperbole?

Don't really care to be honest. I use my 3rd gen iPad primarily for school (viewing and organizing assignment PDFs and whatnot) reading, and web browsing. Performance for all these is just fine with my current iPad. The little gaming I do is not very demanding.

Yeah, it does irk me a bit but not so much that I'm going to complain to Apple about it.

Mainly it irks me because I now have what amounts to a one off device and it's value will be affected accordingly. The people who buy the "New New" iPad for the same price I paid for the "New" iPad 2 months ago will get what I could have sold mine for when the "New New New" iPad comes out next March...

I am actually happy to have the ipad3 until lighting cables are readily available. I have just about switched back to my iPhone 4 until they break into the mainstream (less than $10 each). I refuse to pay $30 for a usb cable to charge my phone. Apple is turning into best buy and that was the biggest fumble of the entire launch. Get your cable and accessories together on launch day.

Happier with the IPAD 3 because it has the old connector and have multiple use for it not even sure the new connector with the 30$ adaptor would work with my guitar interface?

I don't see a reason the interface+adapter won't work. You talking something like AmpKit or the Apogee connector? I'm reallycurious if we are finally going to see a new Alesis I/O Dock come out for the new model. The old one never did get the shims for the iPad 3 like they said they would. It's why I never ended up getting an I/O Dock.

I'm not irked at all ... why does upgrading the iPad make my existing iPad any worse?

I'm actually happier if Apple would release updated products on a more regular basis. In my mind, Apple's slow release schedule often makes their products poor value as they get on in age (i.e. Mac Pro right now or the iMac as of last week). I'm in the market for a new desktop (Mac Pro or iMac), and I've been patiently waiting for an update. I would be happier if they would update their computers every six months or so, and then I wouldn't feel like I need to wait for the latest and greatest.

But with hi-tech, buying 1.5 year old technology (the iMac as of last week) at 1.5 year old prices is poor value.

I think the 'irked' question comes from an older source than the iPad1 => iPad2 cut-over. (Folks, seriously? I have an iPad1 and the iPad2 never appeared on my radar.)

How many remember the first iPhone? Now, how many remember how soon the iPhone 1.5 came out? *raises hand* And then the subsequent 'apology' of 100 USD in Apple store credit seriously raised the 'irked' quotient in forums. (G-1 user here, so I was just a spectator at that particular carnival.)

I've always disliked that Apple products disintegrate after new models are released. It seems like they should retain *some* value.

This is the most non-realistic statement I have ever heard about Apple products and value.

1. Apple products have some of the highest resale values of any brand out there.2. Apple products retain there production value even after hardware upgrades and software upgrades have been released. Apple is known to support their hardware with several major releases of software. Even the iPhone 3Gs got some support in iOS 6.3. Apple iOS products have broad application support in the app store greatly increasing their value of use.

I dont have an Ipad but I will throw this in.. I have other apple products and my biggest issue is that iTunes store sometimes doesnt respect older devices. What irks me is when an "app" is updated and iTunes wants me to install that updated app, only to find out that it is not supported on my older device!...

Since I am not an apple FanBoi then I expect a promptish influx of downvotes....

I wouldn't expect downvotes, except for that it always sounds a bit trollish to say that.

I think it's understandable. iTunes & the App store should notify you about device incompatibilities for updates. So should the developer. But if you've been burned once, you should be on the look out for such updates in the future. How old of a device are you using?

You are both wrong as iTunes does have a list of requirements for each app right on the page of the app. It lists both the hardware that is supported as well as the minimum iOS version you need to have.

I don't own any Apple products , but I can see why so many of there customers are upset. It isn't a typical Apple move (even I know this). At the same time, buying a Nexus 7 16GB than 3 months later having it upgraded to 32GB for the same price pissed me off. That was just a minor update. I cant even imagine if they upgraded the internals as well. I would be pissed! At the same time, the Nexus 7 upgrade was shorter by 3 months instead of 6-7 months with the iPad 4.

I think the only people that would be irked are those that use the iPad for a lot of FaceTime chats. The bump in resolution is great, and much more enjoyable than using the previous front-facing cams. The iPad 3 runs every game I've tried without a hiccup, so I doubt the performance gains are big enough to notice easily.

Aside from that, it's just a business decision to push a more rapid adoption of Lightning accessories & components.

What bump in resolution? The resolution on the iPad 3 and the iPad 4 are the same.